A coming-of-age story expressing the feelings of two teen boys, who come from very different social climbs, but still find their way back to each other.
2 0 1 9 - All Rights Reserved @LunaThinks
B E G A N - 02 . 12 . 19
C O M P L E T E D - 02 . 22...
| R I G H T N E X T T O Y O U | + T H E I N T E R V I E W
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The young, and intelligent woman sat cross legged in the uncomfortably presented flat chair, a piece of her dark, and curly hair placed behind her ear, frizzy bangs falling just above her eyes.
One of the older men watched, hearts beating wildly, as they struggled to adapt to the many portable cameras and cellphones surrounding them. They held onto each other tightly, hands squeezing in a silent reassurance.
The woman cleared her throat, sending the two a soft smile, immediately easing their heartbeats. "So—Mr. and Mr. Ellington, I want to thank the two of you for coming by this evening."
Joseph took a deep breath, eyes flicking from his husband's hand clasped in his, or the woman's endearing look, the cameras all focused on her. "Thank you for inviting us to your . . ."
He paused, unsure of what to call the set. She merely chuckled, knowing that while he had been growing up, things like those weren't even thought of. "This is a talk show. Where I interview people who have really lived, and experienced things that people nowadays, are a bit more rare than they used to be."
Joseph nods in astonishment, his eyes finding Lark's, who still seems to be struggling with the different types of light surrounding him. "Well, I am very grateful."
Lark smiles into crook of Joseph's battered jacket, his heart melting at the familiar smell he'd been able to recognize since he was sixteen years old—now being seventy-eight.
The two knew how lucky they were, how lucky they were to have found one another at a young age, and are now able to live happily, even after all of those years. The mere thought had him smiling even wider.
Joseph could feel the imprint of his smile through his jacket, him turning to fully face Lark and his already aged expression. "What?"
Lark shrugged, "this is just insane."
"I know." A kiss was placed at Lark's wrinkled forehead.
The woman couldn't help but lie a hand at her chest, and watch as the two could be together for year, after year and never fall out of love. "Is it alright if I start with a bit of questions, that lots of our readers and watchers have been dying to know about the couple who have been together for sixty-two years?"
Joseph beamed proudly, "of course."
"So, when, and how did the two of you meet?" She asked, taking a small sip from the coffee mug that had her name written beautifully.
Lark took a moment, having quite a bit of trouble when it came to remembering such a date from such a long time ago. "W-We knew each other when we were very young, having grown up together in Montgomery, Connecticut—and I'm sure you haven't heard of such a place, it was a small town a very long time ago. It's probably been made into something else by now."
She nodded, while listening tentatively to every word that came from Lark's mouth. "But we finally began to actually conversing with one another, when we started sitting together on some old, battered stump that stood not too far from my childhood home."
Joseph continued on for him. "Yes, yes, I remember that stump," he turned to the host. "He was angry with me because he had been sitting on that bench since he was just a boy, then I came along, and claimed it as my own."
The woman laughed alongside Joseph, much to Lark's dismay. "Oh, my goodness, and how old were the two of you, at the time?"
Joseph's eyes narrowed in concentration, as he couldn't remember how old the two were when they had officially met. Lark continued on, "we were sixteen. Sixteen and had never been in love before. Before each other, of course."
Lark's heart clenched when noticing that Joseph had been having a harder and harder time remembering the little things. Things such where he'd placed his car keys, where he'd left his cellphone, and even personal details.
He'd been getting worse since his doctor had diagnosed him with Alzheimer's, only a year ago.
"How did you know that there was something different about Lark, Joseph? Different than the young lady you said you'd been infatuated with?" Joseph smiled when remembering Betty Lee, who he hadn't seen since she and Patty Meyers' small ceremony in the late nineties.
Joseph began his answer, "well, for starters, Betty Lee was a woman, and as I'm sure everyone knows, I'm completely immune to," Lark chuckled loudly, "but, uh—his spirit was refreshing. Everyone in old Montgomery had been the same. Every woman was expected to graduate high school, and marry rich. And every man was expected to go to college, and become rich.
"It was a vicious cycle that I could instantly see that he wanted nothing to do with. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized—neither did I." Lark smiled, once more, his wrinkled cheek beginning to become soar by the amount of times he'd been smiling.
The young woman nodded in understanding, instantly being grateful for the era she'd been born in. "And, I'm sure that this may be the absolute last thing that you want to talk about, Joseph. But Lark was informing me about your Alzheimer's disease. And about how sometimes it will hit you in the most random of times."
Joseph nodded sadly, him never liking being so open about his illness, but not wanting to keep things from people who suffer from the same, or Lark. "Yes, yes, I was diagnosed last June, when I was having a light conversation with my sisters, and completely forgot about who they were. Scared the crap out of Lark.
"So we went down to the hospital for an evaluation, and once I was diagnosed, I was put on medication that I have to take willingly, unless I will be transferred into a home." Joseph's words seemed sad, as Lark's fingers clenched around his.
The young woman suddenly sported a happy smile, as she held the conversation cards in her hands pleasantly, "Well, let's end on a lighter note. Lark, Joseph, I hear that you've just gotten back from a three-month long honeymoon in Paris, France. And I just wanna know, how did it feel to finally be able to marry the love of your lives?"
"After so many years of waiting, and waiting for people to wake up and realize that there are so many LGBTQ+ couples who love each other so much, and want to get married—I cried when they finally made it legal here." Lark's words almost had the young woman close to tears herself.
"It's wonderful to hear that the two of you are finally married, happy, and content," she turned to look at the biggest, and closest camera, the crowd around cheering. "Thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you tomorrow, with the notorious woman, who was buried alive. I'm Gilligan Yusuf, and I'll see you around."
A/N : was this a good idea? Because honestly, I loved writing this, and even put a little humor in there, if you're able to catch it. And no, my name is NOT Gilligan Yusuf : ) just a cute name I thought of to use for the woman interviewing them.
